Yazilikaya: the temple of lunar nodes

A stone temple of the Hittite Kingdom in Minor Asia, especially built to count lunar nodes' cycles.

By Julia Pérez Bustamante, in Tres Mancias Consultancy

Temple - Observatory

Located at 93 miles East Ankara, Turkey's capital city, the original name still remains unknown although it's called Yazilikaya, a Turkish word meaning "written rock". Of 16 x 10 yd, it's a limestone complex built during Tudḫaliya IV's rulership (1236 – 1215 b.C.) although it was abandoned 25 years later, when the Hittite Kingdom was over. And since 1986, it became part of Unesco's World Heritage List.

The construction counts on two chambers made of natural rock, with accessess surrounded by a set of four temples. The chambers are decorated with reliefs although the buildings are much older than the decorations.

The temples are located at the Southwestern area. As sunrays entered through the doors, the Hittite people knew the dates of solstices and equinoxes, whereas the decorations inside of the chambers indicated more accurate dates. The whole structure includes more than 90 reliefs, if considering deities, animals, royal emblems and representations of Tudḫaliya IV.

Reliefs on inner walls represent deities. Due to the fact that the chambers are roofless, they've been exposed to natural light and have been deteriorated by the weather. But the absence of roofs allowed to make use of light and shadow effects, so the chambers could be used to establish a calendar and set a star clock.

Like Egyptian people did, the Hittite population incorporated Babylonian knowledge and practices, including a great amount of traditional annual celebrations. The architectonic design and decoration of the temple - observatory allowed to deduce those dates by considering the Sun-Moon relation, along with their revolutions or complete cycles, month after month and year after year. But they also estimated the satellite's nodal cycles, which is something completely unusual to be found in ancient complexes.

For recording the registries, they looked at the light falling upon reliefs and its shadow effect, and placed moveable markers below them (maybe a short wood or a stone column). Those markers had to be moved manually every day, as the shadow moved across the wall, thus indicating time was passing by.

Chamber A

When looking at the entire decoration of the temple, the chamber A is the best area to easily see the way Hittite people made use of natural light to measure time. The wall of the chamber extends all over 98.4 ft long and holds within 66 deities gathered in 3 areas. From left to right: a group of 42 gods, another group of 5 gods and goddesses, and a third group of 19 goddesses. Those of 42 and 19 are oriented towards the 5 ones, and both as a whole symbolise the Sun-Moon relation in a type of lunar-solar calendar.

At the same time, the group of 42 ones is divided into two groups: one of 12 reliefs utilized to count 12 lunar months, and another one of 30 ones utilized to count the days of a lunar month. A month ended when the shadow marker over the group of 30 ones had been moved all over the days-reliefs. At that moment, another shadow marker in the group of 12 ones was then moved towards the following month-relief inside of the same group, whereas the moveable marker in the group of 30 ones returned to the initial day-relief that always started the counting in that group.

The shadow of TASHMISHU, god of Storms, indicated the beginning of a new month. It shows up on the left extreme in the last picture, holding a stick to symbolise the division of periods (he's been catalogued on the map above as relief N° 41). He's next to the central gods and has wings, like all of the reliefs considered to count days until Full Moon (first hemicycle of the month).

The central group of 5 ones might be related to the North Pole stars. Shadow markers were moved from this area towards the left side (lunar reliefs) and the right side (reliefs of goddesses), as if moving across ratios, from a center towards the periphery, and following the contrary direction indicated by the reliefs' heads and hands.

The group of 19 goddesses were used to count solar years (nowadays only 17 of them have survived). Across the solar wall, markers were moved each time a 12-month counting in the group of 42 gods was completed. And when the whole wall had been crossed from one extreme to the other one, the moment indicated that a new cycle of lunar nodes had began (approximately every 18-19 years). These reliefs also include a subdivision of 8 ones (according to archeological classifications).

solar years reliefs (goddesses)

Chamber B

The chamber is smaller than the other one, and extends only across 3.6 ft long, reaching a max height of 2.4 ft, with internal space getting narrower from North to South, from .9 ft to .5 ft. Anyway, a person placed in a specific area inside of the chamber might have seen the Northern Pole stars over the sharp borders of natural rocks.

The chamber has two accesses, one of them watched by a guard relief on each side and leading to a narrow passage until meeting the chamber. Oriented to the North Pole, it holds within three niches and only a few reliefs, if compared with chamber A. Among them, there's a group of 12 ones, identical to those marking the months on that chamber. Next (although on the opposite wall), the relief N° 82 represents NERGAL, the Babylonian god of fire and desert, or the negative aspects of the Sun (the god later became Mars in the Roman tradition). However, it has not been yet concluded if those reliefs were used to measure time.

Simulation of the polar stars view in Chamber B - Yazilikaya

Southern view simulation of the polar stars, close to Draco (although © Bernd Pröschold drew the Ursa Minor in this composition)

Sun-Moon calendar

Since solar years are made of 365 days, and lunar ones of 354 ones, Hittite people must have had to synchronise their countings. In those calendars associating the Sun and Moon motion, one month has to be added to the regular 12 ones, every 3 years approximately. Ancient Babylonians knew the moment it must to be added by looking at the Moon three days after New Year: if it conjoined the Pleiades, they had to add a month. But archeoastronomic researches don't mention if Hittite people made used of the same observations to synchronise their calendars. So this article will mention an alternative way they might have used, although it implies a complete dismissal of archeological time tracks.

There's more mysteries than certainties at the time of desciphering other possible measurements in Yazilikaya. If Hittite people actually counted lunar nodes' cycles, and if those countings were related to some type of cycle involving number 8 (as suggested by the gathered 8 goddesses), then they might have counted cycles of lunar nodes every 8 revolutions, which leads to the count of 144 solar years. This number widely exceeds the dates provided by History and Archeology about the effective usage of the complex.

A 144-years counting is also a very mystic cipher since it alludes to other important cycles: they are 12 cycles of 12 solar years (a complete finishing of Jupiter's works) and 8 cycles of lunar nodes (again, a total return to zero point, from a karmic point of view).

In a lunar-solar calendar, numbers 8 and 12 are always related to each other (8 Moon's phases and 12 months in a solar year), so the countings of gods and goddesses must be combined, too: Moon, Sun and Moon's nodes. Chamber A's gods gathered two types of measurements along with them, inside of a same space: 1 year and 1 month. And since space = time, those measurements could also be applied to a same time, in which 1 solar annual season = 2 lunar phases.

But those equivalences wouldnt' make any sense in Yazilikaya without a specific relief standing out in both chambers: that of NERGAL, the god assigned to the day immediately after Full Moon's celebration (it can be seen on the left side of the reliefs holding up a boat at Full Moon). The same god is somehow related to the mysterious group of 12 ones in chamber B, placed after them although not corresponding to them, since it's on the Eastern wall, not in the same time-space. So the god could be associated to number 13: end, change, death. Nergal's shadow in chamber A might have indicated:

the change of sign of the Moon's nodes every 1½ year approximately, or 6 solar seasons passing by (after the counting of 12 lunar months in the representation mentioned before)
the moment for synchronising solar and lunar years, by adding a month to the calendar: every 3 years approximately (after the counting of 12 annual seasons of the Sun, in the same representation)

About the function of the 12 ones in chamber B, two correlations suggest a same usage: some kind of annual counting related to the Sun. On one hand, the months in chamber A were 1 lunar year if considered altogether (as counted from Earth). And, since those reliefs were identical to those in chamber B, the last ones might have been involved in the counting of some other type of year. It surely wasn't solar years from Earth (since they were counted by goddesses).

On the other hand, chamber B holds within three niches, which might have been used to take notes of all of the measurements in the entire complex. Two of them are on the Western wall (after the 12 ones), and only one is on the Eastern wall, as if the first two were related to each other ("months" to complete a "year"), to later take a third kind of notes. It calls the attention that only TASHMISHU, who indicates the beginning of the lunar month in chamber A (relief N° 41), be along with those reliefs thought to represent the Polar stars by those times: the view simulation from chamber B might have also been used to find out the beginning of some other type of year involving those stars.

However, there would also be involved a measured ending, because that's the concept suggested by NERGAL'S relief, who follows the group of 12 ones (going from North to South, like in the other chamber). But the relief is not in the same area of the 12 ones and, besides, it preceds the king's relief, the Sun, so it would be also related to a final marking (13) involving the star (a change, like it indicates in chamber A, although related to the Moon in that case).

What was started, completed and changed? What type of year could involve the Sun-polar stars? The temple-observatory still offers many fascinating unknowns to associate physical spaces, time measurements, arch divisions, numbers, stars iconographies and perspectives on cycles throughout time, although in a view absolutely out of the references provided by formal researches on the complex.

Constellations & gods

The beginning of the lunar month is indicated by TASHMISHU, the Babylonian god of Storms. The second half of the month began after the traditional Full Moon celebration, followed by the day of NERGAL, the panther ruler of GIR.TAB constellation (later associated to Scorpio). Synchronicity, change and death seem to be related to each other, as being the counterpart of a later new life cycle such as the storms always announce.

In the Babylonian tradition, the Full Moon in ZI.BA.AN.NA (Libra) was related to SHAMASH, the god of truth and justice, also called "the star of the Sun", who used to be drawn with rays emissions coming out from his shoulders. Contrary to the current Western tradition, the Sun wasn't in detriment in the sign at Full Moon time. Even the scorpion's pinches had belonged to Libra in ancient times, a constellation once called The Pinches of the Scorpion. In the Hittite decoration, the moment of the Full Moon was followed by the day of NERGAL of GIR.TAB, a constellation also quite related to UR.GU.LA (Leo), since both refer to the different expressions the Sun's heat may acquire.

The beginning of the Hittite lunar month is more related to GU.AN.NA (The Bull of Heaven), the constellation where the Moon is exalted, where fertility is raised in the world by rays storms, as an increasing wild nature in the rivers from GU.LA. The last one is the constellation of EA, the god of Earth who lives in the abyssal waters and who used to be represented with two rivers flowing from his shoulders, and holding an eagle (he was later identified with the Roman Saturn, and the constellation became Aquarius). The constellation included a star assigned to the city of Eridu, the most ancient one in Mesopotamy, where knowledge from before the Great Flood might have been saved. The flow of knowledge reminds of EA'S figure. Whereas the lion of UR.GU.LA, the opposite constellation, is usually represented standing on Tiamat, the serpent - goddess of chaos and salt sea who is under control (it later became the current Hydra). So SHAMASH of UR.GU.LA and NERGAL of GIR.TAB remain connected as different aspects of the Sun: there's a control over nature, the last one emerges from EA'S rivers in GU.LA, and a desert opposes the fertility of SIN, the exalted Moon in GU.AN.NA.

Two couples of signs come out from these relations: Taurus & Aquarius as opposed to Scorpio & Leo, in the same way they've been alluded to in the Hittite representation of the lunar month. The relations were also a quite frequent motif in Assyrian artworks from Mesopotamy and Persia, under the form of the lammasu, and mostly as the rivalry between a lion and a bull.

Signs of the Zodiac

Hittite people were influenced by Indoeuropeen backgrounds (Babylon) and also by non-Indoeuropeen traditions. In fact, their language and writing still remain undeciphered. And, even though the Hittite Kingdom ruled from 1650 to 1190 b.C., it's estimated that the population was already present in the region since the second half of the IIIrd b.C. The different origins and mutual influences make it hard to establish who influenced who and since when. But it's usually considered that the astronomic-astrologic knowledge comes from Sumerian lands. Some people even think it may have reached Sumer from Persia.

That's why formal researches and folk stories might not always be completely accurate, and many times both of them seem to be provisory sources. This article has mentioned those dates provided by Archeology, some numeric relations and some other concepts eventually related to countings (arch divisions in 8 and 12 segments, and the progression technique 1 year = 1 month, although Astrology currently considers 1 year = 1 day). But those numbers and concepts are usually related to more ancient perspectives back in time, to other cultures, and even to regions located far away from Minor Asia.

The ancient Babylonian watchers first saw the stars, and the Zodiac came into the scene later. But their practices might have come from Elam (ancient Persia, Iran nowadays). In those lands, around the year 4000 b.C., four stars of the biggest magnitude were close to the cardinal points and were called Royal stars. Now they're part of the current four signs mentioned before: Aldebaran (Taurus), Regulus (Leo), Antares (Scorpio) and Formalhaut (Aquarius back then, now in Piscis Australis, although in a position where it still receives the liquid spread by the water bearer).

Such as it was mentioned about EA the god of Earth and ruler of the city of Eridu, the stars were ruled by gods and, at the same time, were assigned to cities. It's usually said that, such as they were related in the sky, cities and kings on Earth related to each other. Some reliefs and sculptures gather signs' characteristics or display open rivalries, which might have been a reflect of their mundane relationships, although the interest in this article is to consider them as being part of the astrological representation of the Hittite lunar-solar clock.

The union of signs is especially seen in the lammasu, the famous hybrid figures with body of a bull and wings of an eagle, also present in both Mesopotamy and Persia. Sometimes, the bull was replaced by a lion, which is deduced by the extremities of the legs (hooves or claws). Sometimes, the head is even replaced by that of the ruling king at those times. Besides, the body of the animal has five legs, an addition creating a quite defined visual effect: when the head of the figure is turned, the body must be seen from aside in order to look at the face straightly, a point of view giving the impression that the king is in motion. But if the figure's head is aligned with the rest of the body, only the front legs are appreciated when facing the figure, and the king seems to be quiet to the watcher.

Ceramic replica of a winged bull (Louvre Museum)

replica of a winged bull in moulded and varnished ceramic (Louvre Museum)

ammasu with face resembling Asurbanipal II - Neo Assyrian Empire (British Museum)

lammasu with a face resembling king Asurbanipal II, of .74 ft x .7 ft and more 10 tn, in Nimrud (IX b.C. - Neo Assyrian Empire, British Museum)

Lammasu with face resembling Sargon II - Neo Assyrian Empire (Louvre Museum)

lammasu with a face resembling Sargon II, .87 ft x .84 ft, in Khorsabad (VIII b.C. - Neo Assyrian Empire, Louvre Museum)

The lammasu display a great detailed artwork in beards, wings and muscles. They were placed at the entrance of palaces and cities because it was believed they chased away evil spirits and enemies. That's the reason why they were usually in pairs, each at one side of the door they watched over. They could also be found at the palace of Pars City, which was considered as the most advanced city worldwide at that time (VI b.C., Persian Empire, a city better known by the Greek name, Persepolis). Like Yazilikaya, it was included in the World's Heritage List in 1979, and some old stories tell that two incredible human-face lammasu of 1.4 ft high could be seen at the entrance of the main hall, recessed on walls of double height.

But nowadays many of those reliefs and other high valuable objects from those ages are gone, although there's still a relief on one of the walls of the main staircases, displaying the relation of signs as the struggle between a lion and a bull.

Muro de Pars (Persépolis) en el actual Irán (antiguo Imperio Persa)

Splitted views

The great legacy of correlated observations throughout millenia is the base of Astrology. Without it, it couldn't be practiced. Later, major interests have only tried to expand their own areas of influence, inside of the classic distinction between fields and practices (astronomy and astrology, what is natural and what is "divine", physics and virtuality). Some people even consider that two different calendars were used in ancient Mesopotamy, a "rustic" one (for agricutural purposes) and a "sacred" one (for cults or religious practices).

Inside of that splitted view, all remaining out of astronomic calculations has been progressively considered as a symbolic projection, or simply just as symbols or virtualities. Even nowadays, some people think on Astrology as a practice providing personal identification, especially since private horoscopes started to be offered massively.

In other times, Astrology was exclusively practiced to provide advice to rulers about their own lives and domains, in ages where their authority was only legitimated if it came from the stars. Currently, some people consider that Astrology has become a massive control instrument, based on personal identifications induced by that type of promotion.

In this article, stars and constellations were mentioned as considered from a type of Astrology based on atheistic and vital correlations. As such, the origin of it is lost back in time, it has no end, and brings to the present time historical observations, as a constant practice. Temporary matters related to the usage, even the reduction of it as a personal symbolic virtuality (or the counterpart of it, when it's exalted as a field out of this world, beyond everything and everyone), have nothing to do with the perspective considered here. From this point of view, Astrology does have a meaning, although is not a personal or symbolic meaning. Unlike the classic divisions, it doesn't provide any kind of certainty and is not a power instrument, either. It's simply a practice related to all alive beings and things in this world, inherited without knowing too well from whom or since when it has been developed. That's why this article has included formal references as well as informal ones, without caring of the traditional separation of perspectives, and without reducing the practice to a mere instrument of influence.